JEFFERSON CITY, April 21, 2005—Gov. Matt Blunt announced today Missouri will receive a $700,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transit Security Grant. The grant will specifically benefit the Bi-State Transit Development Agency light rail system in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Bi-State Transit was selected because it is in one of 39 major urban area security initiative cities nationwide with a regional transit authority, and the only entity in Missouri, to receive this grant.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said the grant will provide an increase in security for citizens of both Missouri and Illinois.

“Any disruption to the operation of the Bi-state Transit system would impact riders from both Missouri and Illinois,” Blunt said. “The safety of our citizens who regularly use the transit system in the St. Louis metropolitan area will be greatly improved with the implementation of this grant.”

The grant focuses on sustaining and protecting critical transit infrastructure from terrorism, especially explosives and non-conventional threats that could cause major loss of life and disruption of services. More specifically the grant is intended to address transit security issues and enhance preparedness for transit systems, freight and inter-city passenger rail and bus systems.

The grant requires the Bi-state Transit Development Agency to develop a narrative of their response capabilities to a terrorism incident, conduct a risk assessment, develop a security and emergency preparedness plan and a strategy to implement those plans for light rail transit. Michael Chapman, Homeland Security director must review

the report before the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) forwards the report to the Office of Domestic Preparedness (ODP) in the Department of Homeland Security. The report must be submitted before Aug. 31, 2005.

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